U.S. Embassy Security Aide Shot Dead in Yemen

By

Hakim Almasmari

Updated Oct. 11, 2012 7:20 p.m. ET

SAN'A, Yemen—Gunmen on motorcycles shot dead a Yemeni who held a senior security post at the U.S. embassy here, in an assassination that Yemeni officials said bore some hallmarks of an al Qaeda attack.

ENLARGE

Yemeni soldiers in a security vehicle arrive at the site where gunmen killed a Yemeni senior security official at the U.S. Embassy in Sana'a, Thursday.
EPA

Qassem Aqlan, a longtime member of the embassy's security staff, was driving along a main road in the capital when he was attacked by several men, who fled unharmed. He died hours later.

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The attack, coming a month after a U.S. ambassador was killed by militants in Benghazi, Libya, is likely to fan political debate over whether the Obama administration is doing enough to protect U.S. diplomatic staff and embassy employees overseas.

A Yemeni Interior Ministry official said the killing appeared to be the work of an organized terrorist group such as al Qaeda. "Al Qaeda has for long called for attacks on the U.S. embassy and its officials," the official said. He said that since last month the Yemeni government has intensified its security presence outside foreign embassies. "This attack took place about 10 kilometers away from the embassy," he added.

Hezbollah admitted to flying a drone over Israel last weekend, which the Israelis shot down. Also, a Yemeni official says Thursday's killing of a U.S. Embassy employee in Sana'a appears to be caused by an al-Qaeda-type group.

However, the State Department refused to speculate whether al Qaeda was behind the attack. "It is premature—this happened today—for us to be drawing conclusions about who did it, why it happened, all of those things," said spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, citing the Yemeni government investigation. "But obviously, it's of great concern, and it's of great concern given the larger issues in the region."

Ms. Nuland said it wasn't clear whether Mr. Aqlan's killing was related to his job at the embassy. "He could have been killed for reasons that had something to do with his job or reasons that had nothing to do with his job," she said. "We just don't know right now."

A U.S. embassy security employee said that embassy officials had warned them about being targeted by extremists. Security personnel were told to take precautionary measures, he said.

On the same day as the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, the embassy in Yemen was raided by thousands of protesters angry about a video clip released on the Internet that was insulting to Islam. Protesters broke into the embassy gates and damaged property. Yemen's Interior Ministry said more than 60 vehicles at the U.S. compound were burned by protestors, and three demonstrators were killed by security forces.

According to the embassy security employee, Mr. Aqlan had been involved in the investigations on the U.S. embassy attack last month, liaising with the Interior Ministry on its probe into the security breach.

However, the State Department disputed the assertion that Mr. Aqlan was involved in the investigation of the embassy breach.

Yemen's interior minister, Abdul Qader Qahtan, contacted U.S. embassy officials Thursday to condemn the attack. He said an investigation was under way.

The U.S. embassy in San'a declined to comment. In Washington, a senior state department official said, "We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident" and vowed to work with Yemeni officials in the investigation.

The attack resembled previous attempts by al Qaeda targeting security officials and politicians. At least 19 security officials have been assassinated in Yemen this year, mostly in southern provinces. Al Qaeda accuses Yemen's government of allying itself with the U.S., and the officials targeted were almost all involved in the country's counterterror efforts.

Yemen's al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula got a boost from a political stalemate last year that left the country reeling and led to the ouster of long-time President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February.

His successor, Abdurabu Hadi, has carried out an offensive against the militant network and vowed to continue fighting al Qaeda. The group has resorted to motorcycle attacks in recent months after government forces recaptured towns previously controlled by the militants in April. On Wednesday, armed militants attacked a security checkpoint in Yemen's southern city of al-Dali, injuring two policemen, one of them seriously.

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